SARS-CoV-2 Load does not Predict Transmissibility in College Students

SARS-CoV2 is highly contagious and the global spread has caused significant medical, social and economic impacts. Other than vaccination, effective public health measures, including contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, is critical for deterring viral transmission, preventing infection progression and resuming normal activities. Viral transmission is affected by many factors but the viral load and vitality could be among the most important ones. Although in vitro culture studies have indicated that the amount of virus isolated from infected people determines the successful rate of virus isolation, whether the viral load carried at the individual level would affect the transmissibility was not known. We aimed to determine whether the Ct value, a measurement of viral load by RT-PCR assay, could differentiate the spreader from the non-spreader in a population of college students. Our results indicate that while at the population level the Ct value is lower, suggesting a higher viral load, in the symptomatic spreaders than the asymptomatic non-spreaders, there is a significant overlap in the Ct values between the two groups. Thus Ct values, or the viral load, at the individual level could not predict the transmissibility. Our studies also suggest that a sensitive method to detect the presence of virus is needed to identify asymptomatic persons who may carry a low viral load but can still be infectious.

Pioglitazone and statins lower incidence of Parkinson disease in patients with diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The pharmacologic effects of pioglitazone on the incidence of Parkinson disease (PD) are not clear. No study has examined the interaction between pioglitazone and statin treatment on prevention of PD. This study analyzed the associations between pioglitazone, statins, and the incidence of PD in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in Taiwan. METHODS: We used the National Health Insurance database from 1996 to 2013. DM and PD were diagnosed according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes. We used the propensity score-matching method to match the study groups. Cox regression analyses were employed to calculate the relative risk of the incidence of PD. RESULTS: There were 48 828 patients matched and categorized equally into the pioglitazone group and the non-pioglitazone group. The number of PD patients in the pioglitazone group and the non-pioglitazone group was 275 (1.1%) and 417 (1.7%), respectively. The pioglitazone group had a lower incidence of PD, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 0.66 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57-0.78], and this benefit was dose-dependent. Of note, as compared with either pioglitazone or statin treatment, our results first showed that the combination of pioglitazone and statins further lowered the risk of PD, with an aHR of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.64-0.94; P = 0.010). CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggested that pioglitazone could be a promising agent for reducing the incidence of PD in patients with DM, and works synergistically with statins.

Research progress on non-steady state noise-induced hearing loss / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Non-steady state noise has become the main type of workplace noise. Compared with steady state noise, non-steady state noise may cause more serious hearing loss. This paper reviews the new situation of occupational hearing loss caused by non-steady state noise exposure, the overview of international noise exposure assessment standards and new challenges, and the new evidence of non-steady state noise induced hearing loss, so as to provide the basis for the future research of non-steady state noise induced hearing loss.

Extracellular vesicle activities regulating macrophage- and tissue-mediated injury and repair responses

Macrophages are typically identified as classically activated (M1) macrophages and alternatively activated (M2) macrophages, which respectively exhibit pro- and anti-inflammatory phenotypes, and the balance between these two subtypes plays a critical role in the regulation of tissue inflammation, injury, and repair processes. Recent studies indicate that tissue cells and macrophages interact

The Integrin Binding Peptide, ATN-161, as a Novel Therapy for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Many efforts to design and screen therapeutics for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have focused on inhibiting viral cell entry by disrupting ACE2 binding with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. This work focuses on inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 entry through a hypothesized 5{beta}1 integrin-based mechanism, and indicates that inhibiting the spike protein interaction with 5{beta}1 integrin (+/- ACE2), and the interaction between 5{beta}1 integrin and ACE2 using a molecule ATN-161 represents a promising approach to treat COVID-19.

Prospective study on the effect of BMI and waist circumference on diabetes of adults in Zhejiang province / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To explore the effect of BMI and waist circumference on diabetes of adults. Methods: After excluding participants with heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes at baseline study, 53 916 people aged 30-79 in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study from Tongxiang city of Zhejiang province were recruited. Cox regression model was used to estimate the hazards ratios (HR) for the associations of baseline BMI and waist circumference with incident diabetes. Results: Among 391 512 person-years of the follow-up program between 2004 and 2013 (median 7.26 years), a total of 944 men and 1 643 women were diagnosed as having diabetes. Compared to those with normal weight, after adjusting for known or potential factors, HR of both overweight and obesity in men for incident diabetes appeared as 2.72 (95%CI: 2.47-2.99) and 6.27 (95%CI: 5.33-7.36), respectively. The corresponding figures in women were 2.19 (95%CI: 2.04-2.36) and 3.78 (95%CI: 3.36-4.26). Compared to those with normal waist circumference, after adjusting for known or potential factors, HR of Ⅰgrade andⅡgrade in men for diabetes were 2.56 (95%CI: 2.22-2.95) and 4.66 (95%CI: 4.14-5.24), respectively. The corresponding figures in women were 1.99 (95%CI: 1.80-2.21) and 3.16 (95%CI: 2.90-3.44), respectively. Conclusions: Overweight, obesity and central obesity were all associated with the increased incident of diabetes. Strategies on diabetes prevention should include not only losing weight, but reducing waist circumference as well.

Association between tea drinking and stroke in adults in Zhejiang province: a prospective study / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To prospectively explore the association between tea drinking and incidence of stroke of adults of Zhejiang province. Methods: After excluding participants with heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes at baseline study, 53 916 participants aged 30-79 years in the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study from Tongxiang were included for final analysis. Cox regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) for the association of tea drinking with incident stroke. Results: The main type of drinking tea was black tea (79.78%), followed by green tea (20.08%). Of the 53 916 participants, the proportion of participants who drank tea at least once per week was 31.27%. The corresponding proportions for men and women were 60.24% and 10.30%, respectively. Among 391 512 person-years of the follow-up program (median 7.26 years), a total of 1 487 men and 1 769 women were diagnosed with stroke. After adjusting for socio-demographic status, lifestyle, BMI, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure, HR for incident stroke decreased with the increase of daily average tea consumption amount (P=0.000 6). Compared with participants who did not drink tea weekly, the HRs for incident stroke in those consuming tea 0.1-, 3.0- and ≥5.0 g/d were 0.93 (95%CI: 0.85-1.00), 0.88 (95%CI: 0.77-0.99) and 0.79 (95%CI: 0.69-0.89), respectively. The HRs for incident stroke in smokers and non-smokers who consumed tea ≥5.0 g/d were 0.71 (95%CI: 0.59-0.86) and 0.97 (95%CI: 0.77-1.21), respectively, compared with current smokers and non-smokers who did not drink tea weekly (P=0.040 0). The corresponding HRs for alcohol drinkers and non-drinkers were 0.96 (95%CI: 0.76-1.22) and 0.70 (95%CI: 0.58-0.84), respectively (P=0.040 0). The corresponding HRs for central obese persons and non-central obese persons were 0.60 (95%CI: 0.44-0.81) and 0.86 (95%CI: 0.73-1.01), respectively (P=0.040 0). Conclusion: Tea drinking had an effect on reducing the possibility of incident stroke, especially among those who were current smokers, non-alcohol drinkers and central obese.

Estimation on the health life expectancy of adults in Zhejiang province, 2016 / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To estimate the health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) of adults in Zhejiang province and evaluate the health status of the adults. Methods: This study was based on the mortality data collected from Zhejiang Chronic Disease Surveillance Information and Management System, and mortality rates from the underreporting survey and self-reported health data in 2016. Hierarchical Ordered Probit (HOPIT) model was used to estimate the severity-weighted prevalence of disability. Sullivan's method was used to calculate the HALE. Results: After adjustment by HOPIT model, the severity-weighted prevalence of disability increased significantly with age (χ(2)=5 795.81,P<0.001), and it was higher in females than in males (χ(2)=5 353.27, P<0.001). The life expectancy and self-evaluated HALE were 59.08 years and 48.68 years, respectively, in those aged ≥20 years, the difference was 10.40 years due to disability. The proportion of HALE loss due to disability in the total life expectancy was 17.61%, and it increased with age. HALE was higher in males than in females (49.21 years vs. 48.14 years), and in urban residents than in rural residents (49.92 years vs. 47.43 years). Conclusion: The proportion of loss of HALE in the total life expectancy in adults was high in Zhejiang, and it higher in males than in females, in urban residents than rural residents. Programs on improving health care in women and rural residents should be promoted.

GLP-1-dependent and independent effects and molecular mechanisms of a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor in vascular endothelial cells.

The potential atheroprotective effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), long-acting GLP-1 analogues and inhibitors of the enzyme dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) are currently the subject of intense research. Recent evidence suggests the effects of DPP-IV inhibitors, may, in-part, be mediated by GLP-1 independent molecular mechanisms. In this report we demonstrate that treatment of human vascular endothelial cells with the DPP-IV inhibitor sitagliptin inhibited tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) induction of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) mRNA and protein expression and that this effect was observed to be both GLP-1-dependent and independent. Importantly we identify a molecular mechanism involving sitagliptin-mediated attenuation of TNFα-mediated induction of NFκB and orphan nuclear receptor NUR77 mRNA expression, also able to be reproduced, in part, independent of GLP-1. Taken together these observations may serve to provide a molecular explanation, involving transcriptional regulation of gene expression, for recent in vivo studies suggesting DPP-IV inhibitors may have novel, GLP-1 independent, effects in acting to attenuate endothelial cell dysfunction and atherogenesis.